How to a Create Members Only WordPress Site

Members Only WordPress Site

There are plenty of reasons you may be looking into how to create a members only WordPress site. It offers new streams of revenue, protects valuable content, and increases your perceived value and authority within a niche. Most people embrace the idea that they need a members-only WordPress website (or at least a members-only section). The primary barrier they face is actually getting a secure members-only website setup. Fortunately, creating a members-only website doesn’t have to be complicated.

1. Decide What Needs to Be Protected

The first step is deciding what content needs to be protected. Even if your entire website is going to be or members-only there will still be a few pages which are available to the public – such as the signup page. You may also decide to provide some content to the public in order to draw them in. This is often referred to as “teaser-content”.

Deciding how much of the content needs to be protected is only part of the equation. You must also decide what type of content will be protected. For example, you may want to protect a download so only members can access it. At the same time, you may want the rest of the download page viewable by the public so they decide to join your website. Determining what type of content is going to be protected can play a large role in deciding what the best way to create a members-only WordPress site will be for your situation.

2. Consider the Payment Options

The second step is deciding what type of payment options you will be making available. There are two separate issues to contend with. The first is the actual payment processors or payment gateways you will be using. This is important because some 3rd party payment processors could cause compatibility issues with the method you choose to protect your member’s area. Additionally, some payment processors function completely within your website whereas others will take customers to their website to ensure secure processing.

You also need to consider what the payment will be for. Some members-only websites require only a one-time entry fee while others operate on a subscription model. Some will even ask members to pay for content as they go so the members are only paying for what they want.

3. Create a List of Additional Search Priorities

The two primary areas of emphasis are how you want to protect your members-only website and what payment processors you will integrating as both of these variables are most likely to create the potential for compatibility issues. At the same time, it is important to consider other variables which you want to consider before selecting a final solution. These variables often cover issues like price, specific functionality capabilities, reliability, and support.

From your list of priorities it will be easy to compare potential membership site plugins in a consistent and effective manner. The key is to weight each priority based upon how much you want it to dictate your underlying decision. By following this process it will be easy identify two or three WordPress plugins that will quickly, easily, and securely create a members-only WordPress website.

In terms of protecting content I am curious if anyone has compared the overall effectiveness of having freely available content versus a free membership tier to compliment a member’s only website. What I mean by this is assuming your focus is a premium membership site, does have a free tier provide more value than just having freely available content in conjunction with a mailing list.
I have tried both options and have had varying levels of success with each. The lack of consistent results makes me wonder if one is inherently better than another. Forcing members to signup for a free membership seems to create unnecessary friction but it does have the benefit of getting them into your funnel. On the other hand, free content is a great supplement to online marketing efforts and can be used to build authority but not everyone who consumes the content will sign up for the opt-in form.
There seems to be pros and cons to both options but one does not seem to be inherently better than another and testing each option on each membership site seems tedious.